Is wait over for Stanford rush? / Boost in run game expected now that backs have experience

Michelle Smith, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published
4:00 am PDT, Sunday, August 27, 2006

Assessing the Stanford running game and its potential for improvement in a new season has become a rite of late summer. Improvement, unfortunately for the Cardinal, has been as yet unattainable.

Stanford is coming off another anemic season on the ground, having averaged 92.3 yards a game in 2005, a statistic that ranked them above just seven teams in all of Division I last season.

In the four seasons since 2001, corresponding to the Cardinal's run of four straight losing campaigns, the running game has averaged 100.6 yards a game. In the last three seasons, that number drops to 89.8 yards a game.

The Cardinal are anxious to find out whether they can finally put this perennial problem to rest as camp winds down and preparations for Saturday's season opener at Oregon begin.

Coach Walt Harris has made the point several times during training camp that his team faced a situation last year few coaches around the country were forced to navigate: an utter lack of experience among his two starting running backs.

"Our two best backs had never touched the ball in college football," Harris said. "I don't know of anyone who started off with a predicament like that."

Is wait over for Stanford rush? / Boost in run game expected now that backs have experience

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It didn't help that the offensive line struggled with blocking schemes and with protecting quarterback Trent Edwards.

But there is no such inexperience in the backfield this year. Sophomore tailback Anthony Kimble and senior fullback Nick Frank have a year under their belts. And both have shown the kind of progress Harris wants to see, particularly in the Cardinal's Wednesday scrimmage where Frank ran for a pair of touchdowns and Kimble ran for another.

While Kimble and Frank are the main options, Stanford also has junior Jason Evans, who was the team's leader with 248 rushing yards last season, and true freshman Toby Gerhart out of Norco High in Riverside County. Gerhart holds the California high-school record for career rushing yards. But he and Evans have been hampered by injuries in camp.

Harris said he has simplified the blocking schemes for both the offensive line and the running backs. He's starting to see results.

"(The running game) has been kind of nonexistent for a while, and now it's come back," Harris said. "I can write the stories that you guys write. We know how important it is to run the ball."

Edwards said a strong running game could propel the entire offense.

"We all need to have that mind-set that we can get some solid yardage early on, 1st and 2nd down, so we're not faced with long 3rd downs," Edwards said. "When the guys are running hard, things will be clicking for us."

Kimble, who was moved from wide receiver and into the starting lineup at tailback as a redshirt freshman, looks stronger and more explosive after a debut season in which he ran for 244 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught 14 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns. Kimble's camp got off to a slow start as he arrived late with a staph infection in his leg. He said the infection is no longer a factor.

Frank, converted from nose tackle to fill a gaping hole at fullback, has grown into his offensive role after rushing for 134 yards and three touchdowns last season.

"It's all about maturity," said running backs coach Buzz Preston, who coached at Stanford from 1999-2001 and returned to Stanford after spending three seasons at Notre Dame on Tyrone Willingham's staff. "People fail to realize in the timeline of college football they were both freshmen. People want home runs right away, but it takes time."

Stanford's been waiting a while.

"I think it's about attitude. We need to forget about last year and move forward this year," Frank said. "And I think we are making steps in the right direction."